The VisitationThe Ghost Part 2
by tina marie zimmer
Summary: Talbot escaped her feared stocker Serial Killer once, but he has found her again. She calls upon the team to stop him, Emily is back and things are still tence, but Talbot needs them. Without their help she could loose everything, if she hasn't already...
1. Chapter 1, The Visitation

The Visitation

(based upon the TV Series Criminal Minds)

(I do not own Criminal Minds, all characters are from Criminal Minds or based on character already created on Criminal Minds, I own only my imagination)

October 31, 2011

"You make a great witch Lilly," Talbot says to her daughter as they finish trick-or-treating. "Loading her into the can Talbot turns on her little Mini Cooper. Are you ready for some Hocus Pocus?" Talbot asks her daughter as she backs out of the parking spot and sees that Lilly is already asleep. "Looks like you are," she says to her daughter and heads to her house just five miles north of Grand Rapids Minnesota. She left Grand Rapids and quickly made her way home. As she pulled into her driveway, writing on the garage caught her eyes, it was him, red letters, sprayed on the door, "Taint not the mind nor let thy soul continue" panic chased though her, she put the car in reverse when a shot rang out, the windshield shattered, pain radiated though Talbot, but she sped away ignoring the pain, and fearing to look in the back seat. She drove, fast, she had to get away. He found her again. This couldn't be happening. She didn't call anyone; she just drove, until she could drive no more. Minuets seemed like hours, and then when she feared she could no longer drive, she pulled off the road. She reached for her phone, and called.

"Hotchner" Aaron says on the other end of the phone.

"Aaron, he found me," she says, breathy and exhausted. She knew the bullet had hit her, but she didn't know how bad it was. She could hardly turn to see if Lilly was still okay. She was unharmed, she was quiet, and this was not a good place to pull off for the night.

"Talbot, where are you?" he asks, as she can hear a door close.

"Near Wisconsin, I can't drive anymore, Aaron." She says as she feels sleep pulling at her. "Aaron, he shot me." She says matter-of-factly.

"Can you get to Chicago?" he asks.

"I don't know, Aaron, I can't keep my eyes open, and I can't get away from him, he wrote on the door, that's how I knew her was there, then the shot broke the windshield, and I just drove."

"What did it say?" Aaron asks.

"Taint not the mind nor let thy soul continue." She says and hunches over the steering wheel.

"Is Lilly okay?" he asks.

"Yes she's in the car, but she is not hurt from where I can see."

"Talbot, you start driving, and talk to me, I will send the plane to Chicago, and I will give you the address to safe house, they will help you until I can get there." Aaron says as David knocks on the door. "Talbot talk to me." He says, there is silence, "Talbot…Parker!" he hollers into the phone. He gets no answer, and rushes out of his office; nearly running into David, then makes a strait dart to Garcia's tech room.

"Garcia," he says, "trace this call, tell me where she is." He says, then turns back to his phone, "Talbot, talk to me, Parker, say something," he says into the phone, this merits a response.

"Hotch," it is a whisper, nothing more. "Talbot, get to a well covered spot, and we will come get you, stay hidden, stay safe. Take you phone and go hide in the woods, leave the car, but take your phone. If he found you he knows your car. Get to a safe hiding place, and I will come find you…"

"Hotch, Cloquet Minnesota, she is about six miles north of Cloquet Minnesota, on 33."

"Parker," Hotch says softly into the phone, "I want you to drive south for six miles, I want you to go to the police station there, and stay put. I will put in a call momentarily. Just get there. I will see you in two hours. Okay, two hours. Just get to the Cloquet Police Station. Talbot?"

"Okay Aaron, Cloquet Police Station. On it," She says. "Two hours. I'll be there. I can do that." Talbot says and drives to the Cloquet Police Station.

"Garcia, get everything you can on the police department in Cloquet, I want to make sure she is safe there." Aaron says then leaves Garcia's room. He nearly runs into David on the way out.

"Aaron, what's going on?" he asks, "we were going to gather in the conference room."

"Change of plans, we leave in 20 min, I will explain on the plane." Aaron says and leaves David standing on the causeway so he can gather the case files, and all else that is needed. He knew he would have a crime scene to view and a killer to find. Words on her house always meant murder. It was just not always cut and dry. He called the others and they were in the air in twenty.

Nobody is as powerful as we make them out to be. -Alice Walker

Derek was out of his seat before Aaron spoke a word, "Hotch what's the case?" He asks standing beside Spencer.

"It is not a simple case." He says handing out files. "These are the files for six cases that remain unsolved. I explained some of the story back in August, but the whole of the story was not explained. We are going to Cloquet Minnesota. Then heading to Grand Rapids, these are the crime scene photos for each case, all the cases have one thing in common. The UNSUB leaves bloody quotes of on the property. He always quotes The Ghost from Shakespeare's Hamlet. We have six quotes so far, the first was, 'A serpent stung me, with witchcraft of his wit,' This was the scene, and yes it involves Talbot Parker. This was in Duluth Minnesota in 2003. There were three killed in the house, and two left for dead. Both survived, the girls were twins, Temperance Rose Parker, and Talbot Trinity Parker. They were 19, Temperance is in a mental facility in Las Vegas Nevada. She has no memory of any of the events, and has long term memory problems, thus she could not testify as to the identity of the killer. Talbot Parker who was also left for dead has become the fixation of this UNSUB's dilution.

"The next crime scene was in West Pensacola Florida, 2005, the Ghost, as the UNSUB became named after this crime, attacked Talbot Parker in her home, stabbed her 36 times, and wrote 'holds such an enmity with blood of man' with her blood upon the living room wall. She was still conscious when he did this, and her witness statement reported that he, 'spoke as if she was to answer for some crime she had committed, yet there was no expectation of response.' This was terrible, and this caused Talbot to get more protection. She joined the FBI's BAU in the spring of 2006, and in November of 2006 Agent Parker was abducted by The Ghost, from her Myrtle Beech, South Carolina home, she was missing for three days, then found in her back yard. She was stabbed 23 times, all shallow wounds intended to hurt yet not kill. Upon her garage door the words, 'I find thee apt, and duller should thou be,'. Agent Parker's husband was in Paris on business, he arrived in Florida upon our request, he knew nothing of the events, and was never a suspect.

"2007 brought the deaths of Courtney Jones and her family, who were killed by the UNSUB in June of 2007 in Boston Massachusetts. Her tie to this case was not like the others, she was not even near the place, rather she was in the hospital in Virginia, where her daughter Kate was admitted with the flu. She was called upon because her blood was used to write on the wall of the living room, 'pity me not, but lend thy serious hearing to what I shall unfold so art though to revenge what thou shall hear' This was hard for the BAU to work, and no connection other than Agent Parkers blood and the writing on the walls was ever found, however the case was left open and remains unsolved.

"2009 brought the worst the Ghost has ever done, the violence is almost unimaginable, and completely unexplainable. These are photos of Parker's Point Hope Alaska home after the crime, Parker and her family were put into Witness Protection and relocated to Alaska, they show all the violence and the words 'I am forbid to tell the secret of my prison house,' again written in Parker's blood, was scrawled over the wall of the bedroom. Parker had been stabbed 57 times; she was the only one to survive the crime. Her husband Mark, daughter's Kate and Rose, died at the scene, she was three months pregnant. The child survived. This crime and the strange connections, along with the lengthiness of her healing process caused the Burrow to retire Agent Parker in December of 2009. She was treated for all her injuries and moved to an undisclosed location, where she continued to be treated for internal bleeding.

"March of this Year, the Stevens family was killed with the same techniques as The Ghost. The same as Talbot's husband and children had died, down to the number of stabs. It was an exact duplicate with the exception of the words. The phrase '_I am thy father's spirit_, doomed for a certain term to walk the night, till foul crimes done in my day are burnt and purged away,' This is what we have, now when we land we will meet with Agent Parker, who was reinstated to the Burrow not two months ago. The Ghost is in Minnesota, Agent Parker is running from him. I got a call from her not a half hour ago. He had written on her garage 'Taint not the mind nor let thy soul continue'; when this is added to the one found two months ago on her garage, 'Do not forget this visitation is but to whet thy almost blurred purpose'. We have to assume that The Ghost is now following Agent Parker, and she is the focal point of his entire delusion." Aaron says as they look though the photos.

"What do we know about the word he writes?" Emily asks.

"They are from Hamlet, but they are not in order, it is as though he is using the Ghost to tell his own story. Put it together and it is a statement, 'A serpent stung me, with witchcraft of his wit, holds such an enmity with blood of man. I find thee apt, and duller should thou be, pity me not, but lend thy serious hearing to what I shall unfold

so art though to revenge what thou shall hear I am forbid to tell the secret of my prison house, _I am thy father's spirit_, doomed for a certain term to walk the night, till foul crimes done in my day are burnt and purged away, Do not forget this visitation is but to whet thy almost blurred purpose Taint not the mind nor let thy soul continue.' It seems he is trying to tell us something, all these words must have some other meaning. I didn't put it all together back in August, but I think Parker will know; the 'I am my father's spirit' looks to be cursive while the rest is just in plain words. Why would someone writing in blood do cursive unless it means something?" Spencer asks, "I'll look at the text more, and see what he could be meaning. Do we know for sure this is a male Unsub?"

"Yes," Aaron says though specifies no more, as Emily sees the papers that explain why she was so cold on the subject.

"So how old is the daughter?" Emily asks, "Is she safe, with her mother?"

"Yes, she is safe with her mother," Derek says, "She will be two in May."

"I want you all to go over everything in these files, we need to get as much information from them as we can. We need to catch this man once and for all." Aaron says, "Agent Parker was shot today. I don't know how badly, but The Ghost is getting more involved, and he is taking more risk. We don't know yet the motives behind these crimes, we only know the subject of them."

"Was Lilly hurt?" Derek asks, concern on his face, "Aaron, is Lilly okay?"

"Yes, she was in the back seat of the car and was not hurt, Parker was going to the Cloquet Police Station, we will meet her there if she can move, otherwise we will go see her at the hospital, then we will head for Grand Rapids to see the scene. Emily I want you and JJ to sit with Lilly while Derek and I talk to Parker, Reid and Rossi I want you to look over her car and see what you can find on it. We need to get as much information as we can. I'm tired of this guy. I would prefer this ending soon. JJ once we land get in touch with Grand Rapids police and make sure that the scene is photographed and a forensic team goes over it. If there is anything there I want information. I do know from what Garcia found that a young jogger was found dead on the porch. We need to get a handle on this, he doesn't seem to have a comfort zone, and this is one UNSUB I can't predict. I have a feeling he is finding Agent Parker through other channels. He seems to be getting much angrier, and if this escalates it could bring all out panic with Agent Parker at the center. Get whatever info you can from these files, we land in an hour."

"Hotch, is Talbot okay?" Derek asks.

"She can still drive, so I would say she is, but I don't know what will happen once we get there." Aaron says, "He has been after her for nine years, this won't stop until he is stopped. I don't know how he got her cover name." Aaron says, and takes a deep breath to relieve some fears he has as to how capable Parker was of driving. She had driven for over an hour before she called him. He now feared the worst, but he was hopping for the best.

"How well do you know Agent Parker?" Emily asks Derek.

"Well enough to call her Talli," he says and sits down across from Emily.

"So I was gone long enough for you to meet this girl, and trust her." Emily says, "I was here for two years before you trusted me."

"Well she trusted me when we were in trouble, then took one of the worst beating I have ever seen so that I could get free. She trusted me to save her life if I could. She told me about all of this Ghost stuff, and she trusted me to take care of Lilly. I thought if she is giving me that much to care about, she is sacrificing a lot. But something JJ said let me let her in. JJ said 'If you never let anyone in, you will always be alone.' It was enough to let me trust someone who put that much trust in me."

"She must be some woman if she earned your trust so quickly." Emily says then looks down at the file in her hand, "how do you survive something like this," she breaths.

"She is a fighter." Derek says, "I have seen her take a beating without making a sound because she dared him to make her scream, it gave me the chance to get help."

"Then it is a good thing she is tough, this Unsub knows what he wants and whatever that is Agent Parker has it." Emily says, "I just hope we can find out what that is before he gets to her."

"We have to." Aaron says.

Talbot parks her car outside the police station in Cloquet, she leans back in her seat; it is still warm and allows her to turn off the engine while not getting out. Fear grips her, _can she do this?_ She asks herself. Her vision fades in and out; she has to get Lilly into the police station. Suddenly ringing interrupts her thoughts, but darkness clouds in before she can answer it.

"You don't need to answer that," a man says, "I knew I got you, know this Tal, I will always be here. Now what would you do if I took dear Lilly?"

"Touch her and you die," Talbot says pulling a gun and pointing it at him. "I may be tired, and I may be shot, but you will never get Lilly."

"_Mark me_ Tal, _My hour is almost come, When I to sulph'rous and tormenting flames Must render up myself._ And you Tal are my salvation, my survival, my solace, you will go with me, the serpent in the garden will sting, and that sting will drown thee dear Ophelia once and for all." He says then vanishes into the night leaving Talbot pointing the gun at the empty place where The Ghost once stood.

Talbot looks into the darkness, locks the door, then climbs into the back seat ignoring the pain in her arm. She puts a blanket over Lilly to keep her warm and locks the door. She tries to stay awake, but sleep pulls her in, and she knows he is still in the shadows waiting. She puts her arm around Lilly and lets sleep take her, praying that she will wake up and Lilly will still be safe.

"Talbot," Aaron says, "Talbot open the door." He says again knocking this time. "Talbot Parker."

She snaps awake, and looks at the man beyond the window, it is Aaron Hotchner, she sees Derek Morgan beside him, David Rossi stands at the other window, and she believes JJ and Emily Prentice stand in front of her car. Reid is near JJ. Talbot reaches and unlocks the car door. "Aaron," she starts to say, but falls short.

"Talbot you are safe here." Aaron says and gets Lilly out of her car seat, while Derek gets in the car to have a look at Talbot."

"No," she whispers, "He's watching, he said '_Mark me_ Tal, _My hour is almost come, When I to sulph'rous and tormenting flames Must render up myself._ And you Tal are my salvation, my survival, my solace, you will go with me, the serpent in the garden will sting, and that sting will drown thee dear Ophelia once and for all'." She breathes softly to Derek, "he's here, don't let him take Lilly." She adds.

"Don't worry, JJ and Prentice will keep her safe, you need a doctor before you bleed out." Derek says, "Talli why didn't you go inside?" Derek asks taking her gun from her hand.

"He was here," she whispers, "he was going to take Lilly from me, I couldn't leave her alone, not with him here, he would have gotten her. I can't lose her Derek, she is all I have…" she trails off as her eyes close.

"Talli, open your eyes. Hey don't give up now, you are too strong to let go now. Open those eyes, I want to see those green eyes."

Aaron had called for an ambulance once he saw that Talbot was still in the car. He knew she would be there, she would never leave Lilly unless she trusted those she left her with. "Aaron, he thinks I am Ophelia, he means to make me Ophelia, he plans to drown me." She says softly, her eyes closed, she tries to open them. "Lilly," she says, "Lilly,"

"She is safe with J.J. and I am going to the hospital with you. I will be by your side the whole way. Talbot we will find him, and we will protect Lilly." Derek says, "Derek, tell Garcia to look for the shadow outside my house. He was there, but he is always in the shadows, he is a ghost, but he haunts me…he haunts…I can't destroy a ghost…they are just…bad memories…Kate…where's Kate…no…Mark…where's…dead…" she says then looses consciousness as Derek moves to allow the EMT's access to her.


	2. The Apparition

The Apparition

(based upon the TV Series Criminal Minds)

(I do not own Criminal Minds, all characters are from Criminal Minds or based on character already created on Criminal Minds, I own only my imagination)

Derek watches as they pull Talbot from the car, the front window shattered, and blood covering the car interior, "How did he find her?" Derek asks as he holds back anger at the violence this mad man brings with him.

"I don't know," Aaron says, "You go with her, make sure The Ghost doesn't try anything, and see what you can find out once she regains consciousness. I don't want anything to happen to her." Aaron says and sends Derek with the ambulance, "Prentice," he says to Emily, "You and J.J. take Lilly inside and get her cleaned up, don't leave her alone with anyone. I want one of you with her at all time."

"Got it," Emily says as J.J. sooths Lilly back to sleep. They then turn and head into the station.

Spencer takes out his phone and dials the sanitarium, "Hello, this is Spencer Reid, I would like to check on a patient…" he waits, "no, not Diane, I want to know if a patient by the name of Temperance Parker is there." He says then waits for a response, "Thank you, and please keep me informed. I am with her sister and want to be sure she is safe while we deal with some problems here…Thank you." Spencer says into the phone then looks to Aaron, "Temperance had a reaction to something she ate and is not able to take visitors, and since I am not her sister the administrator cannot give out any more information."

Aaron calls Penelope, "Garcia," he says.

"What can the Goblin Garcia do for you on this spooky Halloween?"

"Hello to you too, will you find me all the information you can on Temperance Parker." Aaron says into the phone.

"Time me." She says into the phone and hangs up.

"Reid, get what information you can from the car while you can, then we will head to Grand Rapids to see the crime scene."

"Aaron, if he has been after her for this long, and seems to always know where she is," David says softly, "Does that mean the Unsub is someone she knows and trusts?"

"That's exactly what I am afraid of." Aaron says, "Reid head over to the hospital to get Morgan when you are done, Rossi and I are heading to Grand Rapids to get in touch with PD there."

Reid looks around at the dark parking lot, "Okay," he says and calls Garcia, as Aaron and David head for their SUV. "Garcia," Reid says.

"Always here when I need to be, what can I do for you?" she asks, "I had planned to watch scary movies about people alone in the dark. I was hoping to catch Halloween and H2O, where Michael just—"

"Garcia, this is all fascinating, but I am right now standing in a nearly deserted parking lot all my myself with a serial killer on the loose, would you want to not talk about the movies that are about people who are alone one Halloween." Reid says as he moves over to the car where the two man forensic team is working.

"Sorry, I just…never mind, what can I do for you?" she asks.

"I want you to hack the Bennington Sanitarium records and find out what has happened to Talbot's sister Temperance Parker. I think something has but I can't get a straight answer from the administration there."

"I was just working on that info, I will get that for you momentarily." She says as she works her magic on the computer. "Uhhh," she breaths sharply, "Reid," she says softly.

"What?" he asks stopping in his place.

"I found something about Temperance and Talbot that isn't in the case file." She says as she types away, "There was another sister," she says, "A Trinity, she drowned at a local pool when she was nine." She looks further into the story, "It looks like it was ruled an accident though the parents continued to pursue the idea that someone killed their daughter. The mother found a napkin that had some writing on it, she claims it read, 'Taint not thy mind, nor let thy soul contrive against thy mother aught. Leave her to heaven,' the police shrugged it off as meaningless words that anyone could have written while lounging at the pool. That was in 1993, the girls all nine."

"Call and tell Hotch, there seems to be a one sided dialogue, and he is arranging the lines from Hamlet however he sees fit. He is telling use something, I'm going to look through the car and think on this, I have to double check the text but I think he is telling us something, or rather telling Talbot something."

"On it." Garcia says and hangs up, leaving Reid basically alone in the parking lot.

Mumbling to himself he looks over the car. Finding only more questions as he goes, looking at the angle of the bullet. He calls Hotch, "Hotch," he says as the phone answers, "Yes, the team won't be done for a while they are taking the car to the impound, do you want me to wait till the release it?" he asks.

"No, get to the hospital, have J.J. Emily and Lilly go with you, we need to get together and work a profile." Aaron says, "We will be in Grand Rapids soon, keep me informed." Aaron says and hangs up.

Reid hangs up the phone and returns to the station to get J.J., Emily and Lilly.

"So what is the plan?" J.J. asks.

"We are on the way to Grand Rapids once we stop and check on Parker," Reid says.

"That's it," Emily says taking a drink of her coffee, "we aren't going to check anything else out here?" she asks, "I mean come on."

"We are supposed to go check on Parker," Reid says looking through the file he holds in his hand. "One of you is driving," he says, "I have to work on something." He adds and pulls out a notebook.

J.J. sigh and picks up Lilly, "We need to get her a car seat."

"I have one that will work," an officer says behind J.J. "I have a two year old, but we have an extra seat, you can use it."

"Thank you," J.J. says, "We will get it back to you."

"Are we sure it is safe for her?" Emily asks and takes another drink of her coffee.

J.J. looks at Emily, "The safest she can be is with us right now, but once the Unsub is locked away she will be safer still."

"Then let's go." Emily says and finishes her coffee before following Spencer J.J. and the officer out to the SUV's.

"Reid, either you are driving or ridding with J.J. and Lilly." Emily says to Reid. "Reid?"

"I'll ride, I think I found something, I just need to pick up a copy of Hamlet." He says getting in the SUV.

Emily rollers her eyes and looks at J.J., "You two go straight to the hospital, I will pick up a copy of the play, "Anything specific?" Emily asks Reid.

"No, just make sure it is the full version, not edited, and better if it is not abridged."

"I'll stop at the library." She says and heads to her SUV.

Derek paces the hall waiting for more information on Talbot's condition. Something she had said was making him nervous. He thought she had said he was there, which tells him this Unsub is close. He thought she had said 'He's watching,' he remembers her claim that he had talked to her, that changes things, she heard his voice, but what does it mean? He asks himself as he paces the waiting room. Just then Spencer, Emily, and J.J. enter with Lilly. "Reid," Derek says "What does he mean by '_Mark me_ Tal, _My hour is almost come, When I to sulph'rous and tormenting flames Must render up myself._ And you Tal are my salvation, my survival, my solace, you will go with me, the serpent in the garden will sting, and that sting will drown thee dear Ophelia once and for all.'?"

"What?" Spencer asks.

"Talli said that to me before she lost consciousness, do you know what it means?"

Spencer walks over and sits down, "I think," he says, flipping through the play Emily had gotten a hold of. He looked though the file, then the book, "It's like I thought, he is using the lines to tell a story, but they are not in the right order. He is trying to tell us or Parker something. I just don't know what, yet, but I'm working on it. As to what Parker said, I believe this Unsub looks at himself as being Parkers father figure, yet also sees Parker as Ophelia and wishes to drown her as is Ophelia's end, but must get revenge for something he believes she caused. He believes his time is almost up and intends to take Parker with him." Spencer says then goes back to his notebook, file, and play.

Derek looks from Spencer to Emily and J.J.

"Don't even ask," Emily says, "How is she?"

"They don't know yet." Derek says, "Or at least they won't tell me," he says as a doctor walks towards him.

"Are you Agent Morgan?" the doctor asks checking his clipboard.

"Yes," Derek says, "How is she?"

"Resting comfortably right now." The doctor says, "She just got out of surgery, and will need her rest, but she will make a full recovery. You can go see her now if you would like."

"Hear that Lilly, you can go see mommy," J.J. says softly to the little girl in her arms.

"Mommy?" she asks, "where?"

"Right this way," the doctor says and leads them to Talbot's room. Derek slows outside the door with Emily and Reid as J.J. enters with Lilly. "She isn't safe," Derek says.

"I don't think anywhere is safe for them right now." Emily says, "If he can get to her in protective custody then he can get to her in here."

"Guys," Spencer says, looking from his file to the room, then back to his file and at his notebook. "I need to get to Grand Rapids."

Both Emily and Derek look at him, "What?" Derek asks.

"I need to see the crime scene; I think there is more that they aren't seeing. I find the lines he uses strange, and I think there is more to it than just the lines. I need to see this last crime scene. There is something missing…Trinity, Garcia was right…" he mumbles. "Trinity was the first."

"Who is Trinity?" Derek asks.

"Later," Emily says, "Morgan, Parker wishes to talk to you." She adds and motions for him to enter the room.

"How you holding up Talli?" he asks taking her hand.

Talbot takes a breath, "Derek," she whispers, "he's here…I know him…"

"Take your time, there's no rush." He adds.

"He's playing a game, he is telling me something, I just don't know what it is." She says, "he will not stop until he has us both," she says looking at Lilly who now lay next to her on the bed. "Derek, he called me Ophelia, she commits suicide in the play, but he also called me his solace, his salvation, his survival. I don't know how to stop him. He got to me when I didn't think anyone could. I know his voice, Derek. I know him; I have trusted him with Lilly. I just can't put the pieces together." She says softly, "Derek I'm so scared."

"Hey that's not the Talbot I know," Derek says, "What happened to the fighter that won't give up. What happened to the mother that would do anything for her daughter? What happened to the woman who saved my life?" he asks, "I hope I didn't lose her?" Derek says.

"She just got shot by a crazy who has been hunting her since she was 19. Logic and courage seem to have just shot out the window." Talbot bit out.

"That sounds more like her." He says, "I know you are scared, so I will stay here and protect you." He says.

"I'm not worried about me Derek. I'm worried about Lilly; he was going to take Lilly. He will take Lilly." She says putting a hand on her daughter's sleeping head. "I'm afraid I will lose her."

"I know," Derek says, "but I will do all I can to make sure that won't happen."

Talbot smiles at Derek, "I know you will, I just worry that won't be enough," she whispers as her eyelids grow heavy.

"You just get some rest." Derek says I won't be far.

"Prentice," Emily says as she answers her phone, "sure," she adds and puts the phone on speaker. "Don't you ever do that again," Garcia says "I've called you seven times and you haven't answered one of them. I'm here surrounded my the worst things a person could ever look at, things that make the Reaper look like Mother Goose, and you don't answer your phone."

"Baby girl, hospital's don't allow cell phones, even Prentice shouldn't have hers one."

"I don't care, don't you ever do that again. Anyways, I found something that you may want. It is a video with no sound, it is graphic, but it is something I need you to see, I sent it to your phones. Parker," she pauses, "are you going to be okay, or do I have to call back tomorrow?" she asks.

"She just went back to sleep," Derek says, "she will pull through."

"You just be sure you all get back to Virginia alive and in one piece." She says, "Look over the video, and I also sent all the info I could find on the drowning in '93. Can I do anything else to spookify your last few moments of Halloween?"

"No Garcia, that will be enough thank you." Emily says softly with a chuckle as Penelope hangs up the phone, "Is is really almost midnight?"

"Yes," Derek says, as J.J. walks over to the group leaving Lilly sleep by Talbot.

"Reid we have to get moving, Hoch wants us to come to Grand Rapids. We have some work to do there, and I think he wants to work a profile. But we still don't have a comfort zone, so I have to do a press conference before they get wind and turn this into something it isn't."

"Talbot," Derek says, "Talbot is his comfort zone."

"What?" J.J. asks.

"Think about it, none of his kills have been within a thirty mile radius of Talbot's house." Derek says. "He follows her," Derek says and calls Garcia.

"Talk dirty to me," she answers.

"Baby girl, I want you to track all the men whose movements correspond with Talli's. Someone is following her, and I want you to track him. He would have started when she was 19."

"Make it nine." Spencer says.

"Okay Penelope go back to when she was nine and track the movements of men in the area, we think she knows him, so start with people she knows and then go to everyone else."

"Needle in haystacks, anyway to make it a haystack?" Penelope asks.

"Sorry Garcia," Emily says.

"I'm on it."

"Thanks Garcia." Emily says as Garcia hangs up the phone.

"Spence, we need to get going, it is a long drive." J.J. says softly.

"Keep us informed." Derek says, "I'll talk more to Talli in the morning, see if we can get put any more pieces together."

"Sounds like a plan, we will call you if we find out anything." J.J. says and leaves with Spencer.

"Derek, if you are right, then he is in Cloquet." Emily says softly, "Can we protect them?" she asks joining him by her bed side.

"I have a feeling he plans to drag this out, look at how long he has drug it out so far." Derek says pulling up a chair.

"When I was in the wind I feared every move I made. I was scared I would run into Doyle, I was lucky not to, but for her…" she pauses, "I can't imagine being in her place, not knowing who you can trust, especially since you know that you have trusted them before."

"That's why we are here Emily; we have to keep her safe. We have to find him before he can get to her."

"He will try to get to her through Lilly." Emily says.

"We have to make sure he can't." Derek says matter-of-factly as they look at Talbot and Lilly as they lie in the hospital bed.


	3. Hidding in Plain Sight

Hiding in Plain Sight

(based upon the TV Series Criminal Minds)

(I do not own Criminal Minds, all characters are from Criminal Minds or based on character already created on Criminal Minds, I own only my imagination)

J.J. and Spencer arrived in Grand Rapids around 1:30 am. Spencer had a map on his lap. He quickly folds the map and follows J.J. into the Police Station. They enter the station to find it is nearly deserted. There were few cops around, two detectives, Morrison, and Clark, and both are talking to David. J.J. moved towards the Chief's office just as Aaron exits it. "J.J. you have impeccable timing. We are going to get together and talk about this case with Morrison and Clark. We need to set up a profile, and see what we can do about finding this guy." Aaron says as he moves away from the office. We are in this conference room over there." Aaron says and leads J.J. and Spencer over to a room on the far end of the station. David was just a few steps behind.

Aaron turned to face the group once David had entered. "We have a problem." Aaron says as the group settles comfortable about the room. "I have talked to Chief Gray and he has it in his head that Parker killed the jogger, and a cop got a good shot in."

"But—" Spencer starts but is cut off by Aaron.

"No, we now need to prove that Parker didn't and couldn't kill the jogger, we still need to work the case to keep Parker safe, but we must prove she is not the guilty party. I want you all to find her an alibi for the last two days, and I want you to make sure it is rock hard before we go in. It may come down that the real killer is the only one who can prove that she is innocent. From here on out when we are talking to the cops, we call her Elizabeth Parks. Things are touchy here at the station and they are seriously undermanned." Aaron says. "We have to find a way to protect her without them knowing we are interfering. As of right now we are being allowed to help, we have not been asked. That said, what have you found out?"

"Two things," Spencer says, "First, she said she knew him, she told us that she knew his voice and that she has trusted him before. That led us to our second theory which seems to be panning out. We believe that she has known him for many years, and Garcia is gathering a list of names, while I am putting together a comfort zone. I have mapped out all the crimes in comparison to where Parks lived at the time. Every killing is outside the thirty miles. So this leads me to think that she is thirty miles away from his house, or they were neighbors." Spencer says looking around the group.

"If they were neighbors then we should be able to find some information of him." Aaron says.

"Garcia is working on getting all the real estate information she can on moves that correspond with Parks—" he broke off remembering to change her last name.

"Good, keep me informed." Aaron says and heads over to talk to David.

"You have a bad feeling about this don't you?" David asks.

"It seems too planned. He could have taken her at anytime why would he wait till now. I don't think he wants to kill her." Aaron says.

"He's playing with her." David says, "He is playing with us too, he's playing the part of the Ghost, but in Hamlet the Ghost is just a small part. He wants the Ghost to have a larger part, and he is doing that. He can't see himself as Hamlet, so he projects himself as the Ghost and sees Parks as his Ophelia. If you look at it like that he is trying to give her a larger part too. Aaron, I'm more afraid we won't find him until he wants us to. If that happens…"

"Parks is dead."

"He's telling us something," Spencer says as he walks over. "The lines from the play, they are not in order. He's rearranged them, and I think he is telling us something, or rather Parks something." Spencer says as he starts writing the lines of the white board. "If you look at each line, compare it with its meaning, and then location, it tells us a story.

"First, when Trinity drowned a note was found on a table that read, 'Taint not thy mind, nor let thy soul contrive, against thy mother aught. Leave her to heaven.' This will tell a lot of the story once I reveal the rest. First as itself it means little to us, but from the point of view of the mother, and from the daughter's point of view, it says even more. Basically it says, 'don't poison your mind or let your soul plan against your mother, die in peace'. Basically don't blame your mother for something she cannot control. The event being, Trinity's drowning in a local pool.

Then we get the quote 'A serpent stung me so the whole, with witchcraft of his wit,'(1) and this one is more, 'I was destroyed by wicked craftiness, so entirely killed'. she is stabbed 36 times in 2003." He franticly wrote upon the board, then grabbed photos and placed them as he went. "then came 'holds such an enmity with blood of man,' or 'hold so much hostility to me', and the scene," Spencer grabs the photo of the crime scene, ", he is trying to get the point across that he is not to be tangled with she is stabbed 36 times. Then in 2006 he abducts her, she has no memory of this, she was found in the back yard stabbed 23 times, all shallow meant to harm not kill, and the words 'I find thee apt, and duller should thou be' or to mean, 'I find you suitable though you should be uninterested,' he then moves to get more violent, and in 2007 he connects her to a crime six states away in Boston he writes 'pity me not, but lend thy serious hearing to what I shall unfold so art though to revenge what thou shall hear' in her blood saying 'do not pity me, but listen carefully to what I have to say so you can have reason to seek revenge for what you are about to hear.'. He is warning her of his next act," Spencer grabs the next photo, " he kills all those she loves and stabs her 57 times, he knows she won't die and he stabs her according to a way that won't kill her. Then while she is watching writes, 'I am forbit to tell the secret of my prison house,' or modern English, 'I cannot tell you of my residence or of my home'. From there he kills the Stevenson family, and leaves '_I am thy father's spirit_, doomed for a certain term to walk the night, till foul crimes done in my day are burnt and purged away,' or rather, 'I am my father's ghost, and must walk the night until crimes done to my father are avenged and thought no more.' That crime scene is almost exactly the same as Talbot's family's, Then he comes to her house in Virginia and leaves 'Do not forget this visitation is but to whet thy almost blurred purpose,' or as one would say, 'don't forget this visitation is to focus your forgotten purpose' no death…I find that strange. Anyways, then the one today, with 'Taint not the mind nor let thy soul continue,' or 'don't poison your mind or let your soul carry on.' He leaves a jogger on her poach and shoots her in the shoulder. So take all of that and put it together, fill in a few blanks, and it is telling us something like…" Spencer fills in the blanks writes a few lines and reads.

" 'Don't poison your mind or let your soul plan against your mother, die in peace; I was destroyed by wicked craftiness, so entirely killed. Hold so much hostility to me? I find you suitable though you should be uninterested. Do not pity me, but listen carefully to what I have to say so you can have reason to seek revenge for what you are about to hear. I cannot tell you of my residence or of my home. I am my father's ghost, and must walk the night until crimes done to my father are avenged and thought no more. Don't forget this visitation is to focus your forgotten purpose! Don't poison your mind or let your soul carry on…' I however fear he is not done, and still has more to tell."

"But where is he going to tell us the next line?" David asks.

"I'm working on that." Spencer says, "I'm more worried about what Temperance knows but can't remember."

"Can he get to Temperance?" Aaron asks then calls Penelope, "Garcia, I need to know everything you know about Temperance Parker."

"On it sir," she says, "Anything else?"

"No, just whatever you can get me on her." Aaron says and hangs up. "Rossi, we need to check into the hotel and get some space from the police, then we can discuss things a little more."

"You're worried about something." David says.

"Not here." Aaron says and they all head out to check into a hotel."

Once checked in, they all meet in Aarons room, "Hotch why did we leave the station, why aren't we working the profile?" Emily asks.

"Because," Aaron says, "The only way for him to know where she was, and to follow her would be if he has high access in the FBI. He is someone we know."

"You mean," Emily started, "He's above you?"

"It's the only thing that makes sense." Aaron says, "He has gotten to her no matter where we have put her in protective custody. She said she knew him, that tells me that we all know him, or know of him. He has access to files on her. She has only lived here in Grand Rapids since September 19th, if he's not burrow how did he find her?"

"If that's true, how do we stop him?" Emily asks.

"I don't know," Aaron says.

"Do you have someone in mind?" David asks.

Aaron nods then shakes his head, "And if I'm right, he's been following the investigation all along.

"Not…" J.J. starts then falls silent. Disbelief, was setting in, this was getting to be a much more dangerous case than any of them could have thought. "Hotch, really?"


	4. Tread Lightly

Tread Lightly

(based upon the TV Series Criminal Minds)

(I do not own Criminal Minds, all characters are from Criminal Minds or based on character already created on Criminal Minds, I own only my imagination)

"Is this guy good enough that he could hide his intentions from all of us?" Derek asks, as he and Talbot join the team at Aarons place.

"Lilly you go play with Jack." Talbot said to her little girl, who was not quite two but acted much older than she was. "Aaron if he is working for the burro then it makes sense why I recognized his voice, but how could I not realize who he is now. I mean we know he was responsible for all those deaths, but it's been almost a month and nothing. We can't put the pieces together, how do we find him without him knowing we are onto him?"

"That's why we have Garcia," Aaron says, she's done some quiet investigating, and found some names of people whose movements correspond with yours. We are going to have to look into each of them."

"I've done the best I can to get the information through channels that won't be traced back to me." Penelope says, "First we have Director Jonson, Personnel. He was at conferences in all the states around the same time as all the events. Then there is Special Agent Ryan Davidson, his records correspond with your movements, after that we have Agent Mathew Reynolds Whiteness Protection, the man who was hired to protect you, however we have no record of his whereabouts for October 31, 2011. Then we have Agent Andrew Trent internal affairs, his movements seem to reflect Talbots with the exception of 1993, his movements match."

"So all of our suspects are high ranking police officials, all have access to Talbot's files, and all seem to follow her movements either on purpose or by accident." Derek says, "The question is, how long do we have till he strikes again?"

"I don't know, but we must tread lightly for if we tip any of them off that we know something is going on, we may just sight our own resignations." Aaron says.

"So how do we find a needle in a pile of needles?" Garcia asks.

"Voices," Talbot says, "I need to hear their voices." She looks at the group, "I heard his voice last time. It's the first time he has ever spoken in front of me. I don't know his face because he always has it covered, but I heard his voice." She says as her phone rings. She looks at it, "Hello this is Talbot Parker,…okay…when?...and you didn't try to stop them?" Talbot bit out at the phone. "...well why not?...I didn't approve anything…so you let her go?" she asks anger bubbling in her voice. "...who was he?...did he give his name?...did you get anything from him?...Arthur Small, that's all you got, tell me you at least got a badge number..." Talbot shot to her feet, "How could you?" Talbot held back tears, as she tried to get control of her emotion, "Did he provide proof of any kind? Or did you just let him take her out of the hospital?...I will have words with your manager the next time I'm in Las Vegas, after I find my sister." Talbot says and hangs up the phone. She turns to the group, "He just checked my sister out of the hospital, saying I approved it. He has Temperance, and he left a message in her room, '(to), Revenge his foul and most unnatural murder if thou ever thy _dear father_ love,'."

"Garcia find out who's in Las Vegas, we need to get ahead of him, and we need to do it before he harms Temperance." Aaron says.

"Temperance do you want anything to drink?" he asks.

"In the shadows lies a secret," she laughs, "sun shine, wind blow, eat worms, bow low…" Temperance says distracted by the car door's upholstery. "Nothing is ever as it seems, but we never see things as they are."

"You don't remember me do you?" he asks sees the vacant look on her face, "Good."

"Nothing is ever as it seems, but we never see things as they are," she repeats then goes back to admiring the interior.

"So true Temperance, and now your sister will get a chance to see things as they are supposed to be. I will show her, and you. Soon everyone will know the truth."

"Truth is a myth, fact is a fact, lies are tales, spirits are dead, ghosts are scarce, you have the pain of the world in your eyes, killing her will not end the pain, her death won't make you better…wind blow, fire burn, water flow, earth be…"

"You are one troubled young girl." He said and continued to drive back to Virginia.

"'Tis in my memory lock'd, And you yourself shall keep the key of it." Temperance says all nonchalant.

He looks at her as passing headlights illuminate the car. She is admiring the interior of the car once more. He shrugs it off as nothing and continues about his business. He had work to do and only a few weeks to do it in. Talbot's time was coming, and it was coming fast.

Garcia sat in her technology room, surrounded by her web of knowledge and typed away trying to find the information she needed. She suddenly looks up, "Not possible," she says to herself, "that would mean…but it can't…oh my…" she calls Derek.

"Baby girl,"

"Come into the tech room now." She says and hangs up she looks at the screen, she can't believe what she is seeing, fear has no meaning when you are faced with this. She tried to keep her eyes closed, but something bothered her about this murder, something in the unsub's eyes, something she knew. They looked at the camera and saw her, then she watched as the man took blood from his victim and smeared it on the wall. It was as she feared, the words were from a former crime scene, it was Talbot at his feet. Just then Derek walks in.

"What's so important?" he asks then stops and watches the video.

"That's not?" he asks, then the man holds up a picture of a little girl and the video goes dark. "I've seen that picture before."

"What?" Penelope asks.

"Vegas," Derek says, "It was on the board in Vegas."

Talbot enters behind Derek, "Her name was Kate. She was my oldest, he took that picture out of my purse that night." She pauses to breath, and turns away from the video. "He told me I would see it again, but that would just mean I was destined to join her." She turned to face the video once again, and looked at it again. "Garcia, play that one more time." Garcia did just that, "Go god!" Talbot says and looks closer to the screen. Her eyes fixed on the UNSUB's hand, "He used a recording…" she whispered, "I never heard his voice before Halloween because he always used a recording. Shit." Talbot says and left the room, nearly running to Aaron's office. She entered without knocking, "He's CIA." She say to Aaron as he looks up from his files.

"Please come in," Aaron says, "and start over."

"Hotch, the UNSUB is CIA or ex-CIA. I only know this because my father was CIA and the man in the video which I just say had a tape recorder, my father had the same one in his things. That was the voice I heard. It was the same voice."

"How do you know?" Aaron asks.

"Because when I was a kid I used to get into a lot of trouble, and I found the recorder once. My father found me in the back yard playing with it. He wanted to know why I took his things. I told him, I like the recorder. I said the man sounded kind. My father told me the Ghost always sounds nice." Talbot pauses, "Aaron, I think that something my father was involved in while he was CIA came back to haunt his family. I think the Unsub worked with my father. I know some of what my father did, but I don't know it all. I was only 19 when he died, but Aaron, if he was involved in something he couldn't get out of..." she trailed off.

"Let's gather in the conference room." He says and gets up to lead Talbot out of the room.

Emily walks in with a cup of coffee and her usual straight face. "Any new information?" she asks as she sits down.

"Some," Aaron says as the rest of them gather around the table. Once everyone is sitting, he walks to the white board and turns to face the group. "New information has presented itself to me that leads me to believe the UNSUB who is after Talbot is either CIA or ex-CIA. If this is true then we must work even harder to keep this investigation quiet. I don't want anyone getting word that we have this lead. Prentice I want you to work with Garcia and Parker and see what records you can find on Parkers father's roll in the CIA and who he worked with. I need not remind you that we are being watched on this one. If we," Aaron looks out at the bullpen, "don't get to the bottom of this, no one will.

"Morgan, I want you to work with Reid and Rossi to try to get his identity. J.J. you're with me, we are going over to talk to Director Petraeus. Remember, someone knows something, and we need to find out what."

Derek sat in the conference room with David and Spencer going over the case files, and looking over the crime scenes. It seemed endless, like a trail of bodies no one could find a way through. Just when Derek thought it was over he looked back at a picture. It was of Talbot's father, he was lying facing the wall, but what caught Derek's attention was the fact that something was missing. It looked strange. He dug through the pictures to find them all. His arm was cut repetitively, as if the UNSUB was trying to hid something. "A tattoo." Derek says and leaps to his feet then heads to find Talbot.

"We have been over these cases and over them," Penelope says, "What are we supposed to find in them?"

"A clue," Emily says as she reads through case files on what Talbot's father was working on. "We will find something; one of us will see something that has been missed."

Just then Derek enters the room, "Talli, what was the tattoo on your father's arm?" he asks as Spencer and Rossi enter behind him.

Talbot looks up at the ceiling, closes her eyes and tries to remember. While tracing her arm she explains it, "An Eagle wings spread wide, holding in one claw a star, in the other…" she trails off, "a key with a crown as the bow. Huh, I haven't thought about that in years. Why?"

"Garcia look for that tattoo, I found a lead." Derek says and holds out the picture of Talbot's father. "I need to know who else has this tattoo. I think his arm was cut to hide the tattoo. I think that will give us a name."

Penelope starts typing, then stops and turns to the group, "I work much better without the team hovering over my shoulders." She says and returns to her chore of finding a tattoo.

"Garcia, I'll try to draw you a picture of it. I'm no artist but I'll do my best." She says and set off to get some paper and pencils. Taking a second to call Matt she listens to the phone ring while she walks to her desk. "Matt, hey just calling becau—"

"You think she is safe here?" a voice says over the phone.

"Where's Matt?" She asks, as Derek stops beside her. "Where's Lilly?"

"She is safe, as safe can be, but I hate to say Matt has seen better days." The man on the phone says. "Maggie was such a pretty little thing. I would hate to say I think she's gone, but Matt may still have life to live, his little ones are such precious gems." He says and Talbot puts the phone on speaker as she enters the conference room where David and Spencer stand. "You know too much, and that is a crime, so from those that love you I've taken something, first the boy, he's much too young, but company for Lilly, oh what a treat. Another boy, too young to take, his father strong and brave, but that will change before the day is out, but what of the girl with nothing to lose, she's lost her friends once, and now I've taken her mom, the mother all locked up tight, says to her boy school is about to start, another mother wishes her son all the best, an ex wife dies in my arms tonight. Don't think I've left any out, for the girl with the fingers fast, the shot was close, but I cannot be stopped. This will end before the year is out." He says and hangs up the phone.

"Derek, he has them."

"Who?" Derek asks.

"Lilly, Jack, William, Temperance, and I don't even know who else. But he has them, and he will hurt them. It won't matter what I do anymore." Talbot says, "He has them now, and he means to tell us something. We have to find out what it was my father was working on that drove this man to kill Trinity, and then countless others."

"We will, Where's Henry?" David asks, "It doesn't sound like he has Henry."

"We need to find him. We need to find a way to protect ourselves from this man, before he kills again."

Aaron walks in, "The director was helpful in that he gave us a list of names of me who all did missions together from '62 through '93. Talbot's father is on the list. I got the gist of the call from the door, we all know what's at stake here. We cannot fail. The clock is ticking. Spencer get me a location. He has a start on us, we need to find him, and we need to do it now."

Will looks up from where he lies on the floor. He sees someone he knows; its Talbot the agent Jenifer introduced him not long ago. "Talbot?" he asks.

"No, she's not here. She's out there, trying to get in here. I'm in here, Trinity is up there." She says, moves closer to Will and whispers, "We know too much, Talbot and I, and he is going to try to kill us to keep it secret. My name is Temperance. This here is Lilly, and you know Jack." She says pointing out who was also in the room. I'm not all here, I can attest to that, but I am aware of the man that calls himself the Ghost. He's not right, like I'm not right. Don't worry Henry isn't here."

"How?"

"I can't remember much, blood loss will do that to you, as will being hit over the head a few times. I never talk about him. But I saw him, he held Trinity under the water. I told them the Ghost did it, but my mom thought I was lying."

"Any idea why this guy has us?" Will asks in his southern drawl.

"Insurance," Temperance says softly, "He wants to keep something hidden, and he is going to great lengths to keep it that way."

"Do we know what?" Will asks.

"It was on the tape recorder." Temperance says and looks over to see Jack is looking around confused, while Lilly is still unconscious. He had hit her on the head; an injury that could be seen where the blood colored her blond locks pink.

J.J. stands before the white board, putting up pictures of all those missing, including her husband Will, Jack, Temperance, Matt, and Lilly. Maggie was in the hospital, the children were all there too. "Hotch, how do we find a Ghost?"

"Ghost," Talbot says, looking at the ceiling, "My father said the Ghost always sounds kind." Talbot went to an empty board and started to write. "Okay, my father worked for the CIA from 1970 through his death in 2003. Trinity was killed in 1993. Something happened before 1993 that the man on the Tape recorder didn't want my father to talk about. The man on the tape recorder was called the Ghost."

"Your father would have been told what to do, and how to do the mission based on what the tape recorder said. That's why he was called the Ghost." Emily says, "Your father never saw him, but was informed of mission via the tape recorder."

"Colonel Richard Bass, CIA from 1965 thru present, he's an Undercover Operations Section Chief." Penelope says as she enters with his picture. "He's 66 and has been working with the Agency for 46 years."

"Charles," Talbot whispers. "Dad called him Charles. I met him once when I was six. I was sitting in the back yard…" she takes a gasp, "…I had the tape recorder, and I had been listening to numbers and names. It was July of 1990, because it was the summer dad got hurt at work."

"Do you remember any of the names?" Aaron asks.

"I remember a Colonel Ling, and General Kiwan, and the year was not in numbers but it was in letters and symbols, they were…a-i-g-#. I used that as a child to tell people things. I would use the things I heard on the tape recorder to make my own codes as a kid. Trinity always said 'the Ghost was silent but his anger was great.' I never thought about it," Talbot says and starts to write the numbers down. The numbers correspond with locations in Laos and Vietnam. My father told me that the Ghost was a great worrier but all great worrier's can fall from greatness. I think the tape recorder was proof that the Bass had fallen from greatness."

"If what you are saying is correct," Spencer says and examines the locations, "Parker, these numbers are locations of MASH units in Vietnam during the war. They all but these four, if these are correct, they are in Laos and correspond with…" Spencer ran to his desk, and returned with a book, "They correspond with three known leader camps that existed during the conflict."

"But what does all this in Vietnam have to do with the deaths here in the states starting with Trinity until now?" Rossi asks.

"If we look at it from the point of view of working for the USA during the war nothing," Emily says, "But if Bass was working against the USA and trying to take out someone in one of these camps, then this proves him to be a Traitor, and if he is then what he has committed against the nation is Treason. The tape recorder may have contained proof that he was responsible for the deaths of Americans at those camps. He is working for the government, and if convicted of treason faces," Emily thinks about it, "Well he wouldn't want that to be revealed."

"But how do we prove that that is what was on the tape?" David says, "He is working very hard to make sure no one find out about the tape."

"Records office," Penelope says, and they all look at her. She shakes her head, "There are some things that even the government doesn't put on the computer. Old files and missions from back then still have hard copies in the Records Office. The CIA, like all other government agencies have record offices that are a place to store all their files, and missions. Unless the papers were burned or destroyed they are still in the records office. However a person has to physically go there, the information there is classified and not on the web so as to protect it from people like me."

"I can get you in." Emily says, "I have a few contacts, I should be able to get to the Records Office."

"Okay," Aaron says, "Emily, I don't have to stress this enough, be very careful."

"Corse," Emily says and her and Penelope head to D.C. to the CIA building. Aaron moves to look at the board. He sees a pattern.

"Spencer, can you put these coordinates over the United States, and see if you see any relation between them and the murders done by the UNSUB? I have a feeling he's been using the system to hide his crime."

"If that is true, we may have just found where he has taken his hostages." Aarons says as Spencer heads to his desk to retrieve more books.

"The lines correspond with the events, but nothing else lines up." Talbot says, "Unless," she pauses. "I have to do some figuring." She says and leaves the room to talk to Spencer.

"Aaron," J.J. says, "Will is smart, he won't let Bass win."

"I know J.J. and he will keep everyone alive until we can find them. We just have to make sure we find them soon." Aaron says and J.J. leaves the room.

"Horch," Derek says, "Is he going to kill them?"

"I can't let him." Aaron says, "He has Jack, he has Will, and he has Lilly, Temperance is in the most danger, she knows the truth and if he thinks she can tell anyone she will die. We have to get to him, and we have to do it fast."

"Aaron, he's been ahead of us all along, how can me get ahead of him?" David asks looking at the board.

"I don't know, but it all has to do with that tape." Aaron says and looks at the board, covered in familiar faces. "We need to find that tape."

"US Bank, D.C. Safety Deposit Box 179." Talbot says behind them. "I locked all my father's belongings there after he was killed. I thought it was the safest place I knew of."

"We need to get the tape." Aaron says, "Rossi, you and J.J. work with Reid to find out where Bass is, Morgan, Parker, let's go hear that tape."


	5. The Haunted

The Haunted

(based upon the TV Series Criminal Minds)

(I do not own Criminal Minds, all characters are from Criminal Minds or based on character already created on Criminal Minds, I own only my imagination)

Will sat silently watching the little girl who cried out for her mommy with no hope of finding her. Temperance was unconscious, why Will did not know. He was worried about Henry, not knowing what had happened to him, and Jack looked scared which hurt Will to the heart; he didn't know how to help him. He couldn't move because he was bound to prevent movement. Just then the man entered. "Looks like they all going to have to face find an end." He was saying to himself. "I done told that piece of no good trash before he died that he can't go letting anyone get hold o' that tape, and now that father of yours 's gone and heard it." He says looking at Jack.

"Listen sir, whatever it was you did, we can work it out, just please don't hurt the kid. He's just a little tike." Will says with some hint of his southern drawl.

"You don't know nothing 'bout me, nor do you have any idea 'o what I is planning, so why don't you just keep that flappin' jaw 'o yours closed." He says and kicks Will in the head, leaving him in the darkness of unconsciousness.

Talbot sat slumped over her desk in her purple satin shirt and black suit pants completely oblivious to the day of the year, she figured her daughter was dead; it had been too long to expect her to still be alive. Exhaustion was claiming her; they knew nearly everything that needed to be known. They just didn't know where Bass was. He was like the Ghost he claims to be. Garcia was looking, and has been looking for weeks. Now it was Christmas Eve and Talbot feels more alone now than she ever has before. She had no idea that what her father was going to reveal to the world was that Colonel Richard Bass was actually working for the Vietnam and Russian Governments during the Vietnam War, and assisted, on many occasions, in killing American soldiers in bombings and assassinations. Talbot learned a lot about her father's former boss, including the man's real name, Colonel Richard Bass, and his identity as The Ghost. The tape brought light to many if not all the questions Talbot had including his reason for quoting Hamlet. After listening to the tape she found out her father's call sign was Hamlet, and two other men in the unit had the call signs, Horatio, and Polonius. This just told Talbot that there was more to the story than just a threat. So she dug deeper into the clues only to find herself buried in her work late in to the night.

Derek enters the bull pen on his way out and sees Talbot sleeping on her desk. He walks over to her and sees her work splayed before her and beneath her head. He sees for the first time in a long time a peaceful look upon her face, just then Aaron exits his office. He looks over at them, "Derek?" he asks softly as not to interrupt.

"She's a sleep," Derek says as he walks over to meet Aaron as he descends the stairs. "I can't leave her here." Derek says, "She may be burying herself in her work, but I won't let her work burry her."

"I know," Aaron says, looking Talbot knowing how she feels, and wishing he could take back all the wrongs things he did that have lead to this event. He didn't blame her for Jack being taken, that was his own fault, but they all knew that the chances their families had, and the chances were low. J.J. wasn't talking to anyone, and Rossi was mourning the death of his ex-wife. Aaron knew how it felt to feel like the world was against you, now Talbot was in that place. He just didn't know how to make her feel better, and he didn't know how to get her daughter back to her, or his son back to him.

"I don't think it is safe for her to be alone." Derek says as Emily walks in.

"And I don't think it is safe for you to be alone either Hotch." She says as she walks over to them. "We all need sleep, but you two and J.J. are getting the least."

"Derek take her home, stay with her and make sure she gets some sleep." Aaron says, and then looks at Emily.

"Oh, I'm with you, Rossi is with J.J. and Reid is with Garcia, we are doing the buddy system. You and I… are Buddy's." Emily says waiting for Aaron to respond.

"Then let's go and get some rest." Aaron says and head out with Emily as Derek wakes Talbot gently by shaking her shoulder lightly.

"Talli, come on wake up." He whispers to her soflty. "Talbot, get up please. It's time to get some sleep."

Talbot stirs, "I'm afraid that if I leave I will miss something, and he will kill them both." She finally reveals to Derek her true fear, "He wishes to kill us all, you, me, the team, anyone who knows anything. He will do all in his power to succeed. How can we be safe, when we both know he is ever where, we cannot hide from a Ghost. Bass is that ghost, and I can't hide from him, but I also can't find him to face him."

"Talli, for tonight don't worry about him, just gather all your things and lets go home and get some much needed sleep." Derek says as the elevator opens and the speakers turn on.

"Revenge his foul and most unnatural murder if thou ever thy _dear father_ love," a man said over the intercom. "Now here be the way this day shall unfold, I will request one of you to come to the elevator, and when that one comes I will set one of my hostages free. I choose who to take, and I choose who to free. Answer me quickly or the one in elevator two will die."

"You've come for me, so just be done, I come freely, and just let the others go." Talbot says, getting up from her chair.

"Do not try to alter the parameters of this agreement. They have been set forth and I merely ask for your commitment to adhere to the rules of this agreement."

"I will," Derek says.

"I'm in" Emily adds.

"I will agree." Hotch says as he and Emily take a step back.

"I agree." Talbot says reluctantly.

"Good, then the game begins." The Ghost says, "Aaron Hotchener, step into the elevator. Alone."

Aaron assures Emily all is okay and steps into the elevator. He swallows deeply and the doors close. Emily, Derek and Talbot look to their right and see the door to the other elevator open. Spencer steps out. "Good," the Ghost says, I like to know you can follow directions. Now, Derek Morgan step into the elevator." The Ghost says, and Derek gets in the elevator. He is skeptical and unsure of everything, the doors close and the elevator starts to descend.

Emily, Talbot, and Spencer look over at the other Elevator as it dings and the door opens. To all of their surprise it is Jack that steps out. He moves slowly to stand beside Emily. He says nothing and the Ghost speaks again. "Spencer Reid step into the elevator." Spencer complies. The door closes and the elevator moves down.

Emily and Talbot look over to see the other elevator ding and Penelope steps out, she is shaken and worried, but she steps over to the group. She is about to speak when the Ghost speaks again, "Emily Prentice step into the elevator." Emily looks at the others then does as the Ghost asks. "I will find you, you…" she trails off as the doors close.

"Now we have a new group of three, Talbot Parker, it is time for you to face the truth, this is all you will ever have, people will come and people will go, but you will always stay. You will never be part of the loop." The Ghost says, then the door rings and Will steps out. He is battered and beaten but walking, "It is time for you to see the truth Talbot Parker, and you will see it, "Penelope Garcia step into the elevator."

"Don't worry, Pen, it'll be okay, just do as he says, please," Talbot says.

Penelope gets in the elevator and the doors close as she does. Moments later the other doors open to reveal David standing there, he is quiet and exits with a calmness that alarms the Ghost, though he speaks as if unmoved by the calm David carries. "Will LaMontagne step into the elevator," The ghost says, and Will does just that. He looks more determined to get answers as the door closes before him.

The other elevator opens and it is J.J. she exits and is very confused at what the story behind this all is, she sees Jack and rushes to him. "Talbot Parker step into the elevator." The Ghost says. Talbot does as the Ghost says. She enters and waits, the doors close and then she hears the voice of the Ghost say softly, "But this Eternal blazon must not be to ears of flesh and blood." Then the air in the elevator changes and she finds herself being pulled into the dark black of oblivion.

Rossi and J.J. look over to the other elevator, it dings and out steps Penelope, Spencer, Aaron, and Derek all slightly out of it and confused. Will and Talbot are both gone. Aaron goes to Jack and takes him in his arms with a big hug. "But this Eternal blazon must not be to ears of flesh and blood." The Ghost says over the intercom to the group, "I have taken one hostage, and given you one, this game was but a taste of what is to come if you continue to chase me. I am the Ghost and that shall not be changed by you. Seek the woman on the second floor, she needs your help, she interfered, thus I did what had to be done." The Ghost says but fails to turn off the intercom. Silence is heard, then Will's voice follows.

"Why?" he asks, "Why did you do that, she would have just come willingly."

"Silence! it is The thin and wholesome blood, The will of my most seeming-virtuous queen, that is she…" the ghost added and the intercom went silent.

"Will?" J.J. says and tries to move to an elevator. Just then the elevator opens and a quote is written in blood, Talbot's blood Aaron guesses, the quote reads, 'But this Eternal blazon must not be to ears of flesh and blood.' Moments later the second elevator dings, and upon its wall is scrawled another quote also in blood, this one reads, 'The thin and wholesome blood, The will of my most seeming-virtuous queen,'.

"Morgan, Rossi, you two go with me and check the girl on the second floor, Garcia Reid figure out what you can about how he got in and where he is going, Prentice, J.J. look after Jack, and keep these elevators on this floor, this is a crime scene, and we need to find out what we can fast. He has Talbot, and none of us want him to finish his game." Aaron says as the three of them move to the stairs to see to the lady on the third floor.

Talbot wakes up to a throbbing head and numbness through her whole left arm. She tries to sit up, "Don't," a voice says to her, she forces her eyes open to see J.J.'s husband Will, a little worse for wear, but alive and sitting next to her. His hands like hers were tied together.

"Where are we?" Talbot asks.

"Don't rightly know, but he keeps saying that this place is his prison house, and claiming he now has his Ophelia, and also claims that Temperance is Gertrude. I really don't think he even really knows, but he is smart and he is crazy. I did what I could after he cut your arm, but I'm no doctor, so I don't know how good of a job I did."

"Thank you Will, we've never really had the chance to meet, I'm Agent Talbot Parker."

"Will LaMontagne, it is good to finally meet you." Will says as Colonel Bass enters the room with Lilly asleep in his one arm while he is dragging an unconscious Temperance.

"It is your turn." Bass says, "Time for you to face the truth." He says, " 'O, step between her and her fighting soul Conceit in weakest bodies strongest works.' He knew how to spin the words, Ophelia, Gertrude was unable to speak the truth, but you, I will see you meet your end, if poison takes her, water will be you demise, but you die first dear, you die first." He says and grabs Talbot by the hair and starts to drag her through his house. "I shall in another way get thee to the nunnery." Bass says and laughs deeply.

Penelope rushed into her tech room and started to type away, she had an idea of how to find him. She just had to find the information, and she had to do it quickly. Spencer walks in with a book of Shakespeare's Complete Works opened to the play Hamlet and sees Penelope going to work. She brings up article after article that all pertain to the case, and she plugs them all into the database. Just as she was about out of ideas, Spencer pipes in, "Garcia there," he points to the location of a house, "what is the address?"

"5883 8th Street. Why?" Garcia asks.

"Look, if you plot the lines to their locations, and take the last numbers, that gives you that address, and if you take the first ones it gives you different addresses. I think he was telling us all along where he lives. These other lines correspond with other streets. I think these are the locations of his safe houses." Spencer says. He is at one of these locations. Either he is a 5883 8th street, or he is at 3380 39th…"

"Avenue." Penelope says punching up the number. "They are both in remote locations." She adds as Spencer leaves the room. "Oh God, please let them be alive." She adds to herself as she brings up more information to help narrow the search.

Spencer emerges into the bull pen, "We have two addresses," he says, "5883 8th street, or 3389 39th street."

"Do we know for sure he is there?" Derek asks as he exits the stair well with Aaron and David.

"Yes," Penelope says as she enters from her tech room, "I have confirmed that he is the owner of both places. 3389 39th is currently being used in a sting operation.

"8th street it is first then." Aaron says, "Penelope find everything you can about this place and send it to my phone. Let's go." Aaron says then walks over to Jack, "Will you stay here with Penelope?" he asks.

"Yes, we can wait for Santa together." He says and runs up the stairs to take her hand. Aaron look up at Garcia, and smiles as she takes his hand and leads him into her tech room. Praying they are all going to be okay.

The SUV's pull up silently to the house at 5883 8th street and the place is as silent as the night. Snow blows in the very cold air making hard to see and even harder to breath. The group prepares to go in when a scream draws their attention to the house. A door bursts open somewhere in the darkness, and a much worse silence follows for what seems like an eternity, ending with a horrifying crack of ice and another silence. The team moves quickly to the house, each taking different ways in to clear the house.

J.J. and Spencer enter through the front door, sweeping the house as David and Emily enter behind them and start up the stairs. Aaron and Derek start around to the back of the house.

"J.J." a voice in the shadows says. J.J. stops and turns to see a locked door leading to the basement. "Jen!" the voice cries again.

"Will," she adds and breaks down the door with one harsh kick. Then Spencer and her start down the stairs. She sees before her in the cold shadowy basement, three people, "Will," she says and rushes to his side. Lilly is lying next to him. The third figure a woman is silent and covered in blood.

"Where's mommy?" Lilly asks Will softly.

Spencer checks the woman for a pulse. "You won't find it." Will says, "He poisoned her, I tried to help her, but there was nothing I could do."

"She's gone." Spencer says and rolls her over. "This must be Temperance, his Gertrude."

"But if this is Temperance where is Talbot?" J.J. asks.

"He drug her up stairs, said 'O, step between her and her fighting soul Conceit in weakest bodies strongest works. Speak to her, From me, whose love was of that dignity That it went hand in hand even with the vow Murder most foul, as in the best it is.' He kept calling her his Ophelia." Will says softly as J.J. started to untie him. Then from somewhere beyond the walls of the cold house shots ring out.

Talbot is drug through the kitchen. She tries not to scream, her shoulder hits a box and kitchen utensils spill across the floor. Her eye catches a knife. Her tied hands grab the knife and stab at Bass's hand that holds her hair. He curses and grabs the knife as she drives it into his leg. She jumps to her feet and pushes him back against the counter he screams. Then takes off after her into the back yard, he catches her by the shoulder and brings her head down against her knee then throws her toward the river. She slides across the frozen surface. Her hands before her trying to stop herself from going further than the edge, looking up she hears the cracks of the thin ice blow her and feels the ice give as the icy water swallows her. She grasps for the ice, but it breaks away as she tries to hold it. She tries to shout and cry, when great hands grab her head and push her under. Talbot thrashes and tries to free herself to get air. But the water is too cold, the hand too strong, the ice too hard…

Derek and Aaron see the foot prints leading away from the house and follow them down to the river. "Let her go!" Derek shouts.

"Bass, we know who you are, we know what you did, and it would be best you let her up and step away from the river side." Aaron says.

"Never!" he shouts and jumps in grabbing the hands that suddenly leap from the water.

Derek slides to the opening in the water and grabs the purple sleeve of Talbots dress shirt. The river pulls at her. The ice starts to break under Derek. He gets Talbot above the water, when Bass come from the water, he raises the knife. Derek pulls back, and Aaron shoots. Bass falls beneath the ice sheet that skirts the river's edge. Derek and Aaron pull Talbot from the water.

Derek starts CPR and fears the worst when she starts to cough up water. "Let's get her warmed up, an ambulance is on its way." Aaron says as Derek lifts Talbot into his arms and carries her back up to the house.

"Lilly?" Talbot whispers so quietly it is almost missed.

"Shhh, you just stay alive, and I'll find Lilly, and bring her right to you." Derek says as they enter the house and find David, and Emily guarding the door as J.J. and Spencer emerge from the basement with Will and Lilly. Derek looks to see their faces, though they are happy to have found Will and Lilly they each hold a sorrow in their faces that tells Aaron and Derek that Temperance did not survive. Sirens sound in the distance, as Talbot starts to shiver uncontrollable. Derek removes her purple shirt and her black pants as Aaron returns with a blanket the ambulance arrives and Derek is already at the door to meet them with the hypothermic Talbot in his arms. He rides with her to the hospital. Will is accompanied by J.J. Lilly is accompanied by Aaron. Emily, Spencer and David give the local authorities their information then drive to the hospital to find out how their friends are doing. Emily get on the phone and calls Penelope.

"Tell me they aren't dead." Penelope says, "Please tell me they are alive."

"Garcia, we are heading to the hospital now, Morgan is with Parker, J.J. is with Will, and Aaron is with Lilly. They are all heading to Fredericksburg."

"Are they all going to be okay?"

"I don't know Garcia, I just don't know." Prentice says and hangs up the phone.

Spencer, David, and Emily enter the hospital before they can go to the desk they see Derek, and Aaron standing in the waiting room. Penelope enters only moments behind them with Jack. "Do we know anything?" Penelope asks to break the strange silence.

"Will and Lilly are going to be fine." Aaron says softly, "We are waiting on news of Talbot." J.J. is with Will, Lilly was sedated, they had to set her broken arm."

"Derek," Penelope says softly.

He just takes her into his arms for a hug. In that moment the doctor come out. "Are you all waiting to know about Talbot Parker?" he asks.

"Yes, how is she?" Derek asks and looks up at the doctor fear crashing into his heart.

"We have her stable, and she is awake, but she needs her rest. She is asking for Derek, Aaron, and Lilly. And wants to know where Temperance is."

"May I go see her?" Derek asks.

"And you are?" the doctor asks.

"Derek Morgan." Derek says.

"Yes, follow me." The doctor says and leads Derek to see Talbot.

Derek walks over to Talbot's side, "Hey there," he says softly.

"Derek," she whispers, "is she gone? Is Temperance gone, I feel like she is." She says, "Please tell me the truth." She pauses, "He killed her didn't he."

Derek takes Talbot's hand in his and holds it to his heart as he sits on the bed beside her, "I won't lie to you Talli, Temperance is in heaven with those up there who love her." He says as tears well in Talbot's eyes. "But you are still here with us. Lilly is upstairs in the children's ward, Jack is here and I'm here with you, the team is in the waiting room, and we just want you to get better, and Bass is dead, he will never haunt you again. Plus it's Christmas Eve."

"Too bad I'm out of mistletoe," Talbot says, "for I would love some right now." She smiles.

"I think we can make do without it." Derek says and kisses Talbot. "Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas," Talbot says and falls asleep peacefully for the first time in years.

Ghosts seem harder to please than we are; it is as though they haunted for haunting's sake - much as we relive, brood, and smoulder over our pasts. - Elizabeth Bowen

Talbot wakes up to the sound of Christmas Carols, she looks around the room to see, Lilly is lying on the sofa with J.J. and Will, Henry, Emily and Jack. Derek is sits in the chair his head on the bed by her hand and he is fast asleep. Penelope and Spencer are talking in the corner, and David enters the room with a tray of coffee followed by Aaron with a small fake Christmas tree. He looks over at Talbot. "Thought you could use one," He says.

"Thank you, Aaron, for everything." She says softly, "Thank you."


End file.
